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About Bridge City Paddling Club

Bridge City Paddling Club was incorporated on January 8, 2010 as an Oregon non-profit corporation to foster, promote, and to participate in, national and international competition in the sports of amateur dragon boat and outrigger canoe racing.

We are a competitive dragon boat and outrigger racing canoe club in Portland, Oregon with a paddling philosophy of "many boats, one team" and a community outreach program to help and make a difference in our local community. We sponsor the Dawn to Dusk paddle each summer to raise money for the Children's Cancer Association.

We currently have five teams for dragon boat and outrigger paddlers:

Team Velocity, a women's dragon boat team

Bridge City Men, a men's dragon boat team

Bridge City Blitz, a mixed dragon boat team

Kai Ulu Akea, an outrigger team

Bridge City Vets, a team for veterans

Recruiting for a high school team

The Bridge City Veterans was formed with encouragement from the American Legion Post 134 on Alberta Street. The team's first practice was in February, 2015. We are actively recruiting veterans who have served in a branch of the military.

We had 104 members at the end of 2014, compared with 86 members at the end of 2013. Our members range in age from 16 to 68 with an average age of 38. Adult members pay $220 per year in paddling dues. Youth pay $25 per year. Paddlers also pay race fees and travel expenses.

We generally go to four to six dragon boat festivals in the western United States and Canada and seven to ten outrigger distance or sprint events in the Pacific Northwest each summer. We enter three to six teams in each event.

We are members of PNWORCA (Pacific Northwest Outrigger Racing Association) and the Pacific Dragon Boat Association (PDBA).

We rent outrigger and dragon boats from DragonSports USA. We purchased our first outrigger racing canoe in April, 2013.

Bridge City Paddling Club has an active community outreach program helping and raising money for other non-profit organizations in our community. We generally have two major events a year where we practice "competitive philantrophy" using our strong backs, team spirit, and competitive focus to help organizations such as the Special Olympics of Oregon and the Children's Cancer Association.

We have hosted Blood Drives at the Portland Donor Center 1-2 times per year since 2015. We've collected 183 donations in our first 5 drives, averaging 36 donations per drive.

We also created and sponsor the Dawn to Dusk Benefit Paddle each August. Team members and friends paddle a dragon boat from the River Place Marina around Ross Island, making 10-12 laps of six miles over the twelve hours from 8AM to 8PM on a Saturday. We also have several shorter laps for corporate teams interested in a team building activity with all proceeds going to Dawn to Dusk.

2010 - Raised $5,000 for Blue Planet Network

2011 - Raised $7,700 for Children's Cancer Association

2012 - Raised $28,400 for Children's Cancer Association

2013 - Raised $43,510 for Children's Cancer Association

2014 - Raised $48,000 for Children's Cancer Association

2015 - Raised $45,308 for Children's Cancer Association

2016 - Raised $40,651 for Children's Cancer Association

2017 - Raised $29,462 for Children's Cancer Association

2018 - Raised $35,174 for Children's Cancer Association

Our mission statement of competitive paddling and competitive philantrophy could be summarized as "Kick Ass. Save the planet". We were awarded the 2013 Rio Tinto Alcan Sustainability Award for our community service activities.

Bridge City Paddling Club is a charity formed for public benefit with members and exempt from Federal income tax under subsection 501 (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue code. The federal Employer Identification Number (EIN) is 27-3171332. A copy of the letter of determination is on the Resources tab.

Our Oregon Business Registry number is 655884-94.

Bridge City Paddling Club is registered with the
Charitable Activities Section of the Oregon Department of Justice. The
registration number is 42510.

The club's business and financial activities are managed by a Board of Directors. The paddling activities are managed by a Coaching Committee. The club has no paid employees or coaches.